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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Manawatu Standard One of the brightest notes struck
this week was the release of new guidelines surrounding the relationship
between teachers and students. The thawing of the hands-off, keep-them-at-a-
distance regime that has ruled throughout schools is welcome to see. Most people would have felt there
was something wrong in the cold, clinical, prescriptive way that teachers
were taught to behave around children. It always felt wrong, but somehow it
was accepted because it was thought necessary as it prevented an even greater
wrong inappropriate contact. And of course that's merely a euphemism for
touching for sexual gratification. The new guidelines for physical
contact have been released by the New Zealand Educational Institute, which
has 45,000 members who teach children in preschools right through to adults
in schools. These teachers have now been told that they can use ``common
sense'' when it comes to deciding what is appropriate physical contact. So, if a five-year-old girl
running across the playground trips, falls and grazes her knee, then it's
obviously fine for the teacher who picks her up, male or female, to put an
arm around her shoulder and comfort her. There's no doubt that many teachers
would have been doing this anyway. They know this is the right way to look
after a scared, hurt young child. But up to now, that comforting hug
was against recommended guidelines. The old rules were, of course, about
protecting male teachers as much as they were about protecting children. The
no-touch era came about as a result of the Peter Ellis Christchurch creche
case in the early 1990s, which sent shockwaves through the education system.
The Peter Ellis case created one of the most dramatic changes in the way we
regard our small children and the educational institutions to which they are
sent. Tiny doubts over the safety of children around male teachers became
full-blown paranoia. Almost certainly all male teachers
who had pondered the dangers of being labelled a child abuser now had their
fears confirmed. Many men abandoned teaching young children and others gave
up any plans to begin. That's why if you walk through any Manawatu preschool
or even primary school, you'll struggle to spot a male teacher. This has created an unbalanced
educational upbringing for a generation of children, especially boys, who are
being taught and guided almost solely by dominant female role models until
their secondary school years. The guideline changes will probably create
little practical change in how teachers behave the good ones would have
hugged anyway. But a great outcome would be if one day it's regarded as a
significant step toward getting more male teachers back into the classroom. One more thing: Posties have enough
to worry about with dogs and bush-covered footpaths without having to fear
cars backing out quickly as well. Our story on posties on Wednesday revealed
two had been hit within an hour. Car drivers obviously need a good reminder
to watch out for all footpath users as they sail out of their driveways. |
